CTARS Tank of the Month

Chriskid · Jan 20, 2014

January 2014 CTARS Tank of the Month Winner

Patrick Callan Useful_Idiot

Me CTOTM? Thanks everyone that's awesome! I know there are a lot of nice tanks in the club and feel honored you guys think I'm one of them. My name is Patrick Callan and I've been into saltwater for 5 years now. It's a hobby I really enjoy not only for the beauty of the animals but also for the problem solving that is involved. It seems though that most often the source of the problem is me. A few years ago my job as an hvac mechanic was no longer the challenge that it used to be and I turned to reefing as a way to prevent boredom. I love that you can change a parameter in the slightest amount and see a change in the coral.

I think what makes my tank so successful is time. It's been setup 2 years now and half of the liverock is 5+ years old and covered with sponges and life. I've been able to keep my parameters stable and the sps have been able to respond to that. For example my red planet took a year to color up. And I haven't really fragged all that much so some of the older corals a finally colonies. Also I'm understocked for my water volume and never read NO3 so I'm able to feed as much as I want. When the fish can't eat anymore I'll add some blended mussels I've shucked juice and all if I feel like the corals are lightening. Although I can't get rid of cyano so I still have some fine tuning to do.

I'd like to thanks the members of the club that have helped me on the way. Rob (my2girls) helped me big time with water chemistry and every other problem I had when I first started. That was often and he always knew the answer preventing the loss of livestock. Ryan (Reefer) really generous guy always had coral to hand out and still lets me borrow equipment. Joe and the old PC staff, I'd stop by every week and they'd always have time to talk reef and provided tons of coral and equipment at great prices. I felt sponsored lol. Zack (harlquinacro) another early influence that had great advice and watches my tank while I"m away so I don't have to worry about anything. And everyone that posted answers to my questions in the forum and took the time to help and the club as a whole, to have meetings to go to and talk reef. As a new guy walking out of the meeting with bags of coral from the raffle was awesome. Educational seminars to get me excited again when the tank hadn't been doing well.

And the biggest thanks is to my wife Ashley. I was going to upgrade to the 70 cube and she encouraged me to go with the 150. When looking for wedding venues she even picked out Mystic Aquarium, how great is that? An all the reefers that have seen my tank and commented on a specific coral it's always been one she picked out. And her never ending (I hope) patience with the amount of time and money I spend on my tank.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/Tank21_zps5c3def82.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Tank21_zps5c3def82.jpg"/></a>

Tank info
Marineland 150 Deep dimensions 36x36x27
75 gallon sump
29 gallon frag tank

Equipment List
2- AI led modules
6-39watt t5's 4 blue+ 2 coral+
2 MP40's
Litermeter 3
4 Bulb ATI power module frag tank light
MP10 frag tank

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/unnamed1_zpsa4e1fdfd.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo unnamed1_zpsa4e1fdfd.jpg"/></a>

Filtration
SRO XP2000 skimmer outside air intake
57 watt Aqua UV sterilizer
filter socks
carbon passive in a bag
cheato
currently trying vinegar dosing for the 3rd time

Parameters
Alk 8-9
CA 420
MG 1300
SG 1.026
NO3 0
PO4 .00-.08

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/unnamed3_zpsc4467233.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo unnamed3_zpsc4467233.jpg"/></a>

Livestock
4 lyretail anthias
7 blue eyed cardinals
2 banggai cardinals
pyramid butterfly
yellow tang
longnose hawkfish
starry blenny
diamond goby
orbic cardinal
leopard wrasse
flasher wrasse
firefish
darwin clownfish
blue damsel

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/Tank23_zpsc22b1774.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Tank23_zpsc22b1774.jpg"/></a>

Coral
ORA green slimer
ORA red planet
ORA ponape birdnest
ORA bird of paradise
ORA hawkins
ORA joe the coral
Orange monti cap
purple rim green monti cap
flower petal monti cap
orange digita montipora
pink bird nest
montipora setosa
rainbow monti
mystic monti
pokerstar monti
purple haze monti
purple monster
yellow carolina
red dragon
pink milli
palmers blue milli
tricolor valida
poccipora
fathead vendors
yellow sun coral
black sun coral
florida cup coral
JF jol lepto
yellow turbinara
3 colors of frogspawn
gold torch
blasto
hollywood stunner chalice
other zoas lps other wild sps

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/unnamed_zpsbea0e161.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo unnamed_zpsbea0e161.jpg"/></a>

Patrick has a thread of his own here on Reef Central. Check it out by following this link http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2107734

Please post your comments of how wonderful you think his tank is and congratulations on his thread and not on this thread. Thank you!!

Congratulations!

This month's winner won a gift certificate from our sponsor,
Affordable Aquatics!!

Chriskid · Feb 17, 2014

February 2014 CTARS Tank of the Month Winner 
Karl Stefanczyk - KrazyKarl

Patrick is going to be a tough act to follow for CTOTM, but I'm truly honored to have been chosen as February's winner. My name is Karl Stefanczyk and my reefing career started around 3.5 years ago. Like many reefers, I had kept freshwater aquariums as long as I can remember. I think I might have gone through every possible freshwater setup (amazonian community and aggressive, brackish, african, fancy goldfish) prior to turning to salt. Freshwater no longer captivated me as it once had and the mystical world of sea dwelling creatures filled that void. The relationships between fish/coral/inverts became a fascination.

In my opinion, my reef is still in its adolescent phase. I still have (and am constantly adding/removing) frags in the system as I continue to "paint" the rocks with the beauty of coral form and color. As much as I am in love with SPS, I cant imagine maintaining a reef without the variation of all sorts of coral. Colors, shapes, and requirements of all the diverse coral families is what drives my addiction.

In the reefing world, time and consistence are your best friends. It took several month, if not almost a full year, for my current system to be capable of sustaining the most delicate of coral life. Once I was able to stabilize my parameters and maintenance routine I felt confident enough to attempt keeping truly rare specimens. My last hurdle is to keep my hands out of the aquarium. I believe that I am finally content with my collection and plan on doing minimal (theres always room for one more coral right?) addition and removal in the future.

Thank you's: CTARS for the award, 'Pecan2Phat' for the inspiration, 'Useful_Idiot' for introducing me to LED's and Vortech's, 'frankyrivera' for allowing others to see my reef through beautiful photos, 'mylifeismyown' for always helping me spend money, and my better half for dealing with the constant tinkering and never ending spending.

System Summary

Cadlights 100G Artisan (48x24x20)
3 Ecotech Radion Gen1's
2 Ecotech MP40W
1 Ecotech MP10W
Apex Jr. w/EB8+EB4

40 Breeder Sump (Fuge/Return/Skimmer Setup)
Filter Sock
Cheato
SWC 160 Cone Skimmer
Eheim Jager 250W
Eheim 1260 Return Pump
Avast Marine ATO
BRS Reactor (Emergency Only)
2 BRS 1.1ml Pumps dosing ESV B-Ionic

Livestock

Purple Tang
Yellow Belly Hippo Tang
Mystery Wrasse
Leopard Wrasse
Midas Blenny
Male Lyretail Anthias
ORA Clownfish

SPS

ORA Pearlberry
ORA Red Planet
ORA Green Slimer
ORA Oregon Tort
ORA Cali Tort
ORA Yellow Fuzzy
ORA Hawkins
ORA Hyacinth Birdsnest
ORA Green Birdsnest
Rommel Watermelon
Aquaholic Dragonskin
Tyree Purple Monster
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Tyree Icefire
Vivid Rainbow Delight
WWC Tierra Del Fuego
RMF Jared's Mille
RMF Tri Color Prostrata
RMF Acid Trip Mille
RMF Orchid
JF Rouge Mille
Reefbum Yellow Tort
Palmer's Blue Mille
Pro Corals Rainbow
GARF Bonsai
FF Red Robin
Planet Earth Hoeksemai
OG Hoeksemai
Strawberry Shortcake
Pacman
Red Dragon
PC Sunset Mille
PC Purple Acro
Yellow Carolina
Bubblegum Mille
Raspberry Nasuta
Swanny Prostrata
Forrest Fire Digitata
Orange Digitata
Setosa
3 Wild Unnamed Acro's

LPS

Bicolor (Green/Purple) Frogspawn
Gold Torch
Pot of Gold Favia
Mayan Sun Favia
JF Anti Venom Favia
JF Roller Coaster Favia
JF Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris
Meng Mummy Eye Chalice
Tyree Superman Chalice
JF My Miami Chalice
Cherry Corals Hot Spot Plate
Dendros

Z+P's

Daisy Dukes
Purple People Eaters
24kt
Pink Zippers
Rastas
Fruitloops
Goblins Fire
Sunny D's
Bloodshots
Laser Lemons
Purple + Red Hornets
Bam Bam's

Inverts

Dr. Mac Ultra Maxima
Scarlet Hermits
Trochus Snails
Cerith Snails
Tiger + Fighting Conch

Water Parameters

Alk 9-10
Ca 440
Mg 1300
Sg 1.026
No3 0
Po4 .03-.05

Karl has his own build here on Reef Central and you can find it by following this link http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2177723

Please post your comments of how wonderful you think his tank is and congratulations on his thread and not on this thread. Thank you!!

Congratulations!

This month's winner won a gift certificate from our sponsor,
Affordable Aquatics!!

Chriskid · Apr 6, 2014

March 2014 CTARS Tank of the Month Winner

Francisco Rivera "œFrankyrivera"

After Patrick and Karl won I said to myself I got a long way to go until I get to that level and then I get contacted saying I've won March TOTM. I can't believe I'm in the top 3. This honor is so humbling and greatly appreciated. Everyday I look at my tank thinking its missing something and what can I do to even be a fraction as good as most people on here, so thank you very much.

My name is Franky Rivera and my reefing career started around 10 years ago. Like many reefers, I started with a 29 gallon freshwater tank with a hang on back everything LOL!. I had no flow, no sump, no heaters, just an emperor 300 bio-wheel for filtration and a power compact light fixture.

The first time i saw hair algae growing on my rocks i was so excited thinking woo-hoo I'm finally starting to grow stuff. So I quickly jam packed my tank with every possible pretty fish I can squeeze in there"¦everyone knows how that story ended. Not good!!! so after crashing that tank I figured I would do it right this time and do some research.

That's when Rich (Madtanks) turned me on to Reef Central back in 2005, I joined asked a million questions found out about Puppy Center and then never had any money left again. (sure miss that place)

I believe that the key to my success is, the set it and forget it method. I overskim, run a fugue, don't overfeed, don't overstock and try to never put my hands in the tank. I simply dose 2 part, Top off and wipe the glass with a mag float. I have probably done 4 water changes in 2.5 years and that was mostly due to being bored. I only run activated carbon when i frag corals which is not often and run GFO if i see nuisance algae which in 2.5 years i've problem ran in twice and only about 2 Tbsp worth for a total water volume of 130 Gal +/-.

I would like to Thank: CTARS and the entire "œBoard" for breathing life into the club and more importantly for the Award. There are way too many people to thank individually and for the fear of forgetting someone who may have been instrumental in helping me in any way along my journey, I choose to thank everyone equally and for those that went out of their way to hook me up with stuff you know who you are. From Old school to New school let's keep reefing fun.

System Summary

75 gallon reef ready display (48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8)
48" ATI Dimmable 6 Bulb Sunpower
1 Ecotech MP40W-es
2 Ecotech MP10W-es
Apex Lite w/EB8+WXM+PM1 and Lab grade PH Probe
90 gallon Basement Sump (Fuge/Return/Skimmer Setup)
Cheato
Reef Octopus Super SRO 2000 Skimmer
2 - 300 Watt ViaAqua Titanium Heaters
Mag 18 Return Pump
Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
2 - TLF-150 Reactors Activated Carbon/GFO (Emergency Only)
3 BRS 1.1ml Pumps dosing ESV B-Ionic

Livestock

Yellow Tang
Male Hawaiian Flame Wrasse
Leopard Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Female Solon Wrasse
Multi Color Lubbocks Wrasse
Linespot Flasher Wrasse
Helfrichi Firefish
Mandarin Dragon Fish
Clownfish

SPS

ORA Pearlberry
ORA Red Planet
ORA Green Slimer
ORA Oregon Blue Tort
ORA Cali Tort
ORA Hawkins
Tyree Purple Monster
Tyree Icefire
Jason Fox Rouge Mille
Reefbum Yellow Tort
GARF Bonsai
Strawberry Shortcake
Mr. Pacman
Red Dragon
PC Sunset Mille
PC Purple Acro
Yellow Carolinia
Bubblegum Mille
Forrest Fire Digitata
Orange Digitata
Setosa
Red Cap

LPS

Bicolor (Green/Purple) Frogspawn
Australian Metallic Green Hammer
Orange Plate (Fungia)
Jason Fox Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris
Orange/green Acan
Radio active green candy cane (Trumpet) coral
Franky's Red Velvet Blasto
Bubble gum monster chalice
Meng Mummy Eye Chalice
Emerald mummy eye chalice
Franky's green eyed ruby chalice
SC Dessert Storm Chalice
Pink Boobies Chalice
Bazooka Joe Chalice
Pink Watermelon Chalice
Jason Fox Goldmeister Chalice
Jason Fox Crazy Fox Chalice
Franky's Alligator Acne Chalice
PC Rainbow Chalice
Strawberry Orange sherbert Chalice
Unknown yellow eyed red chalice

Z+P's

Rastas
Tangelos
Charms Blow Pops
Fruitloops
Sunny D's
Bam Bam's

Inverts

Dr. Mac Ultra Maxima
Scarlet Hermits
Trochus Snails
Cerith Snails
Tiger + Fighting Conch
Nasaurius Snails
Mexican Turbos
2 Cleaner shrimp

Water Parameters

Alk 8.5
Ca 440
Mg 1400
Sg 1.026

Franky has a thread of his own here on Reef Central where he enjoys posting his terrific macro shots. Check it out by following this link

Please post your comments of how wonderful you think his tank is and congratulations on his thread and not on this thread. Thank you!!

More of Franky's pictures will also be posted on our CTARS webpage (when it's up) as well as our Facebook and Google+ page! Check them out there!!

Congratulations!

This month's winner won a gift certificate from our sponsor, Affordable Aquatics!!

Chriskid · Apr 29, 2014

April 2014 CTARS Tank of the Month Winner

Emery Messier - emessier

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/DSC_5170_zps49077459.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC_5170_zps49077459.jpg"/></a>

First of all I would like to thank you for nominating my tank. When you look at your own tank you see the flaws and when you look at someone elses tank you see the good. I got into reefing about 3 Â½ years ago after years of encouragement from my son Chriskid. I started out with a 26 gallon bow tank and some mushrooms and leathers.

In my opinion reefing should be spelled "œP A T I E N C E" LOL. This is something I have had little of until I changed the tank over to the 120 gallon SPS dominated tank. I like instant gratification, something that is not possible when growing corals from frags. Last May is when I upgraded from the 75 gal zoa and paly dominated tank to the 120.

I started paying attention to cleaning up the water in order to be successful with SPS. I never really have been able to keep the nitrates and phosphates at zero or undetectable. The nitrates always seem to be in the 10 range and the phosphates at .25. I vodka dose in order to bring down the nitrates and also run some GFO for the phosphates. I usually run about Â¼ of the recommended amount of GFO . So when you see my target parameters they are listed as such.

I do about 35 gal water changes every 10 to 14 days. The real change in growth that I noticed was when I bought the Lumatek ballasts that were adjustable from 250 watt to 400 watt. I added 400 watt Radium MH bulbs and started out burning them at 250 watts. I slowly cranked them up to 250 high then 400 low. That is when new growth started sprouting up all over the tank.

Most of my success has been from the help of my son Chris and also the reef forums. I may not comment much but I read and take it all in. Reefing has been one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. Going to frag swaps, conferences and our club meetings have been exceptionally enjoyable. Meeting new people and enjoying new friendships has been great.

I would like to thank you all for that and especially my wife Lisa for enjoying this hobby along with me.
Thank You,
emessier
Emery

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/DSC_5209_2_zps19c6ef05.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC_5209_2_zps19c6ef05.jpg"/></a>

Target Parameters
Salinity 1.025
Calcium 420
Alk 7.5 "“ 8
Magnesium 1350
Nitrates 5 "“ 10
Phos .25 or less

Live stock
1 Coral Beauty
1 Purple Tang
1 Powder blue Tang
1 Atlantic Blue
3 Lyre Tail Anthius
5 Blue Chromis
1 Foxface
1 Hawk Fish
1 Christmas Wrasse
1 Clown
1 Harlequin Shrimp

SPS Corals
Hydrophora
Pink Birds Nest
ORA Green Bird
Bird of Paradise
ORA Purple Stylo
Green Stylo
Carolinian
Pink Tabling Millie
Green Slimer
Green Deep Water
Red Planet
Orange Digi
Purple Digi
CK Stag
Green/baby blue stag
Green Tip Orange Humilus
Green Humilus
Green Efflo

Zoas & Palys
Bam Bams
Gila Monsters
Irish Mist
Sunny D's
Red Hornets
Rastas
Tubbs Blues
Mind Blowing Palys
Black Mauls
My Clementines
Nuclear Green Palys
Duncans
Trumpet Corals
Fire & Ice

Also
Frog spawn
Maxi Mini

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/DSC_5210_2_zpsf920e290.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC_5210_2_zpsf920e290.jpg"/></a>

Chalice's & Monti's
Meteor Shower
Martian Landing
Northern Lights
Poker Star Monti
Orange Cup Chalice
Green Spungode
Yellow Polyp Purple Monti
Yellow Eye Baby Blue Chalice

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/CTARS/Reef%20Central%20Album/DSC_5200_2_zps0d923805.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC_5200_2_zps0d923805.jpg"/></a>

Equipment
120 gal DT
2 400 Watt Radium MH
6 HOT5 w/ 10 3 watt blue led
ATI Bubble Master 250 Protein Skimmer
Pan World NH 200ps Drive Pump
Current Chiller
60 Gal Sump
20 Gal Refugium
20 Gal Wet Dry Bio Ball

Emery has his own tank build here on Reef Central. You can find it by clicking HERE!

Please post your comments of how wonderful you think his tank is and congratulations on his thread and not on this thread. Thank you!!

All photo's were taken by our member, Franky Rivera. Thanks so much for taking the time to help out the club with your time!

Congratulations!

This month's winner won a gift certificate from our sponsor,
Affordable Aquatics!!

CTARS Tank of the Month

Chriskid

New member

Chriskid

New member

Chriskid

New member

Chriskid

New member

Similar threads